Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition, especially a resin composition comprising a specific polyphenylene ether resin, and prepreg and laminate prepared using the same.
Descriptions of the Related Art
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are circuit substrates that are used for electronic devices to load other electronic components and to electrically connect the components to provide a stable circuit working environment. One kind of conventional printed circuit board is a copper clad laminate (CCL), which is primarily composed of resin(s), reinforcing material(s) and copper foil(s). Conventional resins include epoxy resins, phenolic resin, polyamine formaldehyde resins, silicone resins or polytetrafluoroethylene resins; and conventional reinforcing materials include glass fiber cloths, glass fiber mats, insulating papers or linen cloths.
In general, a printed circuit board can be prepared by using the following method: immersing a reinforcing material, such as a glass fiber fabric into a resin (such as epoxy resin), and curing the immersed glass fiber fabric into a half-hardened state, i.e., B-stage, to obtain a prepreg; superimposing certain layers of the prepregs and superimposing a metal foil on at least one external surface of the superimposed prepregs to provide a superimposed object; hot-pressing the superimposed object, i.e., C-stage, to obtain a metal clad laminate; etching the metal foil on the surface of the metal clad laminate to form a defined circuit pattern; and finally, drilling a plurality of holes on the metal clad laminate and plating these holes with a conductive material to form via holes to accomplish the preparation of the printed circuit board.
Recently, laminates for PCB substrates are mostly prepared by using epoxy resins. It is known that laminates prepared by using epoxy resins may be provided with proper physicochemical properties such as heat resistance, chemical stability, mechanical strength, etc. However, laminates thus prepared are also provided with a high dielectric constant (Dk), a high dissipation factor (Df), and high water absorption rate, which all lead to the deterioration of the signal transmission quality (e.g., a slow signal transmission rate and signal loss). As a result, the laminates prepared by using epoxy resins are gradually failing to meet the requirements for high frequency and high-speed signal transmission for smaller, lighter, and thinner electronic products.
Polyphenylene ether resin is another resin material for preparing laminates. In general, polyphenylene ether resin is poor in heat resistance (high temperature stability) but has excellent electrical properties and good chemical resistances (e.g., corrosion resistance, acid and alkali resistance), and thus, is usually used in combination with epoxy resin to improve electrical properties. However, in practical use, the compatibility between polyphenylene ether resin and epoxy resin is poor due to the difference in the polarity of their chemical structures. The incompatibility makes it difficult to process the resin composition and thus, limits the usage of the resin composition, and also makes it difficult to produce the advantage of polyphenylene ether resin in the resin composition well.
In view of this, the present invention provides a polyphenylene-based resin composition comprising a polyphenylene resin with a specific structure. In virtue of the polyphenylene with the specific structure, the resin composition of the present invention offers advantages such as low cost and ease of processing, and the laminate prepared by using the resin composition of the present invention is provided with satisfactory physicochemical properties.